Climate 411

Highlights from top blogs and news stories in the last few days

The Wonk Room draws attention to a new report that shows how climate legislation will boost the economy. “This CCS analysis finds that instead of slowing the economy, household wealth and jobs will grow faster in a green economy.

Marc Gunther explores the potential of the growing wind power industry and how innovative companies are working to “capture high-altitude wind energy and turn it into electricity for off-the-grid users. Potential customers include the U.S. military, chic eco-resorts in remote locations and poor people in the global south in desperate need of power.”

The Washington Post has an editorial stressing the importance of keeping the climate bill on the Senate agenda this year. The editorial board reminds us that “every year Congress waits to legislate, adequately curbing emissions will get harder and more expensive.”

Also posted in Climate Change Legislation, News / Comments are closed

A low carbon economy: the gift that keeps on giving

A Practical Guide To A Prosperous, Low Carbon Europe is the latest McKinsey study to show how it is eminently affordable to achieve the transition to a low-carbon world. The headline on a post by Financial Times climate über-scribe Fiona Harvey puts it best: “Europe’s energy in 2050: Cutting CO2 by 80% no more expensive than business as usual.”

How is that possible?

Initial capital expenditures are higher for renewable energy but operational cost savings along the way make up the difference. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

To be sure, there are some very clear obstacles. The old economists’ mantra applies here as well: if it’s so cheap, why aren’t we doing it already? Well, we ought to be. The obstacles are largely political, driven by vested interests. If you are just now building a new coal plant and haven’t put much thought into carbon capture and storage technology, you may be less inclined to cheer than your neighbor investing in wind and solar.

McKinsey isn’t saying that everyone wins in this new world. The ones who see the future and act accordingly do. Most importantly, society and the planet win as well.

Also posted in News, Policy / Comments are closed

Video: The Facts of Cap and Trade, From an Economist

EDF is known for unconventional tactics. We often experiment with new ideas to find the ways that work. However, this time I had a chance to do something truly off-the-wall.

I was asked to make a video with the coalition Clean Energy Works that explains cap and trade in a way that non-economists could understand, i.e., in English.  (And with clever animation.)

What were they thinking?

Maybe the idea was just crazy enough to work. Here are a couple of reactions so far:

Check it out, let us know what you think, and spread the word.

Posted in Economics / Read 4 Responses

James Murdoch: A New, Conservative, Clean Energy Champion

The energy and enviro communities are all buzzing about today’s Washington Post op-ed by James Murdoch, the head of News Corporation’s Europe and Asia divisions, and son of its founder, Rupert Murdoch.

The op-ed, “Clean energy conservatives can embrace”, calls for a capping carbon pollution and supports market-based incentives for clean energy. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth reading.

Also posted in News, What Others are Saying / Comments are closed

A Wild Ride: Big News from the Clean Energy Front

A lot has happened quickly in the clean energy world. Here’s a wrap-up:

  • Yesterday was day two of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s markup process for the Kerry-Boxer bill. Republicans once again boycotted the proceedings, although they made a couple of cameo appearances. The markup continues today — you can see it on C-Span. And, Greenwire is now reporting that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has given EPW Chairwoman Barbara Boxer “the green  light” to move ahead without the GOP. Reid reportedly told Boxer to advance global warming legislation on Tuesday, November 10,  if Republicans have not ended their boycott by then.
  • At the same time, three strange bedfellows — Sens. John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) announced they would work on a “dual track” to create a climate bill that would get 60 Senate votes. Our Tony Kriendler says the three have given “new life to a bipartisan process.”
  • The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is making tentative gestures of support in the general direction of a climate bill. The Chamber, which has been slammed by the media and abandoned by some of its own members since saying we need a “Scopes monkey trial” on climate science, said today that it “supports most of the principles outlined” in that Kerry-Graham-Lieberman proposal. Details are still fuzzy, but Tony Kreindler says: “We’re delighted to see the Chamber recognize that there’s a bipartisan path forward to a cap on emissions. If they support it, that would be truly a first.” Indeed, we at EDF would all be thrilled if the Chamber’s new tone were followed up with real action.
  • A new group launched today “to support action to limit greenhouse gases and counter the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.” American Businesses for Clean Energy includes high profile companies — including some who quit the Chamber because of its stance on climate change. Members include utilities — New Jersey’s Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG), Florida’s FPL Group Inc. (FPL) and New Mexico’s PNM Resources (PNM) — as retailer Gap Inc. and Colorado ski resort operator Aspen Skiing Co. More from the Wall Street Journal.
  • And New York University School of Law’s Institute for Policy Integrity released a new poll of 144 economists. It found a whopping “94% believe the U.S. should join climate agreements to limit global warming,” and that “significant benefits from curbing greenhouse-gas emissions would justify the costs of action.”
Posted in Economics / Comments are closed

Best Economic Analyses: Economy Can Thrive as We Cap Carbon

When you want to find out which cars are best, you look to honest experts who do their homework – like Consumer Reports or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

At EDF, we do the same thing when it comes to analyzing how the economy will fare under a carbon cap:  we look at what the neutral, nonpartisan economists are saying.

In the world of economic forecasts, the honest brokers include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Information Administration, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Congressional Budget Office.

In a just-released publication, EDF’s economics team looks at what these nonpartisan experts are saying about the House-passed American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454, or ACES).  As you recall, that bill would put a gradually declining cap on emissions of heat-trapping gases.

Here’s what we found:  according to unbiased economic experts, if we adopt ACES, the US economy will reach $25 trillion in the spring of 2030 – just a couple of months after it would do so with no cap.  In other words, we don’t have to compromise between a strong economy and a better environment.  We can have both.

To help you see how tiny the impact of a cap on economic growth will be, check out this chart:

gdp_bars

The new EDF paper builds on our analysis last year of nonpartisan studies of earlier climate bills.  The new studies square up perfectly with last year’s:  fighting climate change is easily affordable.

So what about those wild numbers you hear tossed around – that if we cap carbon, the economy will crater and families will go broke paying ginormous utility bills?   Those numbers aren’t from these neutral, nonpartisan studies; they’re from “studies” by groups who want to kill climate legislation.

We’ve rebutted the crazy numbers elsewhere.  But this brief is about real economic studies done by serious, neutral experts.

The new paper also compares the tiny costs of protecting ourselves against potentially catastrophic global warming with the much larger amounts we spend to protect ourselves in other ways – like police and fire protection, life insurance, and national defense.  This chart tells the story:

dollar_penny

There are a lot more goodies in our economists’ new report — check it out.  And if you want the graduate-level course, you can learn still more about climate economics at http://www.edf.org/climatecosts.

Posted in Economics / Read 3 Responses